The Power of a Referral

As a real estate agent we are trained to ask for business. The most common words you’ll hear at the end of any conversation, “Do you know anyone that wants to buy, invest in, or sell real estate?” We do this for may reasons. First and foremost, we are genuinely interested in paying our bills on time and ponying up when our kid ask for lunch money. That’s a pseudo-joke. Honestly, in any business word of mouth means so much more than a yellow page or Craig’s List advertisement. Here is another story about a lesson recently learned.

Today was a big day for two client’s…they moved into their new house! The lesson is not in how I found them a perfect house for their needs, although if you ask I’ll tell you. The story is in how they decided to transfer their stuff to their new abode.

They are a couple who until today were living in two separate places. Meaning they have two distinct loads of furniture that need to be packed, transported, and unpacked. He had one idea how they should do things, he had another. His idea was to buy boxes, pack their stuff themselves, call a random moving company to transport and unload, then unpack themselves. To me and to her, this seemed like a lot of work. She suggested that they call a moving company recommended by a few friends. She wasn’t totally aware of the service they provide, however she knew they were recommended.

Here is the meat of the story. He ended up getting his way for his place and she got her way for her’s. He did as planned. He paid for the boxes, packed everything, called the movers, they transported it and dropped it off. He spent $100 on boxes and another $200 for the movers. She called the recommended moving company, they supplied their own boxes, packed everything, moved it, dropped off the boxes, and helped unpack. Her total cost around $200. Not to mention, she wasn’t left with the guilty conscience of throwing away just bought once used boxes.

The moral of the story is that a recommended service is recommended for a reason. The service they provide is so good that they have people on the street advertising for them for free. So I ask you, do your past clients recommend you? What type of service do your recommend to others? What would it take for you to recommend the BBG?